No power in your flat but the hallway lights are on, or the other way round

Living in a flat changes how a power cut works. You may have a consumer unit in your hall, a meter in a cupboard two floors down, and corridors lit by a supply that is nothing to do with you. When something goes dark, the first job is working out which part has failed.

How power reaches a London flat

A typical block, or a Victorian house split into flats, has three separate parts to its electricity:

Part	What it is	Who usually looks after it
Network supply and main fuse	The cable from the street, the cutout (main fuse) and in some blocks the rising mains	The network operator, UK Power Networks in Hackney
Your flat’s supply	Your meter, the cables from the meter to your flat, your consumer unit and circuits	The meter belongs to your supplier. The rest is the flat owner, or the landlord if you rent
Landlord supply	Corridor lights, door entry, emergency lighting, lifts, communal sockets	The freeholder or managing agent

Rising mains are the cables that carry power up through a block to each floor. Lateral mains run across to each flat. In new blocks, guidance from UK Power Networks says these are installed and owned by a building network operator. In older blocks ownership varies. They may belong to the network operator or the building owner.

Your flat is dark but the hallway is lit

This tells you the building has power. The problem is between your meter and your circuits, or inside your flat.

1. Check your consumer unit. Look for a tripped RCD, MCB or main switch. Reset once. If it trips again, unplug appliances and try once more.
2. Check your meter. If you have a prepayment meter, check your credit. If the display is blank, note that.
3. If every switch is up and your meter is blank, the fault may be in the cable to your flat or in the network equipment. Call 105. It is free and puts you through to the right network operator for your postcode.
4. If your meter shows power but your flat is dead, the problem is probably the cables between the meter and your consumer unit, or the consumer unit itself. That needs an electrician.

Our no power in the house service covers flats as well as houses, including faults in the cable runs between meter cupboards and flats.

The hallway is dark but your flat works

This is a landlord supply fault. Common causes:

• a tripped switch on the landlord’s own consumer unit, often in a locked cupboard
• a failed timer or light sensor for the corridor lights
• water from a leak getting into a corridor light fitting
• an unpaid landlord electricity account

It is not something a tenant or leaseholder should fix themselves. Report it to your managing agent, the freeholder, or your landlord. In a block, dark stairwells are a safety issue, so say if emergency lighting is also out.

Everything is dark, including the hallway

If your flat and the communal areas are both off, check whether other buildings on the street are affected. If they are, it is likely a network power cut. Check the UK Power Networks power cut map or call 105 or 0800 31 63 105.

If only your building is off, the fault may be on the incoming supply or the rising mains. Call 105 and give the building’s address.

Why this comes up so often in Hackney

Hackney has one of the highest shares of flats in London. Figures from the VOA council tax stock of properties show 81.9% of homes in Hackney are flats or maisonettes, and 29.4% of all homes were built before 1900.

Many of those flats are in Victorian terraces in De Beauvoir, Dalston, Clapton and Stoke Newington that were split up decades ago. When a house is converted, each flat gets its own meter and consumer unit, and a small landlord supply is added for the hall and stairs. The meters often end up in a cupboard under the stairs or by the front door, with cables running up through the house to each flat. Over years of repairs, it can become hard to tell which cable feeds which flat.

The borough also has large council estates and converted warehouses in Hackney Wick, each with their own arrangement of meter rooms and risers.

Practical tips for flat dwellers

• Find your consumer unit and meter now, before you need them. Know which meter is yours.
• Label your meter if the cupboard has several and it is allowed.
• Keep a torch by the door, as corridor lights may also be off.
• Know who manages the building. Have the managing agent’s details somewhere easy to find.
• Tell your landlord if you rent. They must keep the electrics in your flat safe, and the rules on inspections are set out in government guidance for landlords.

If someone in the flat relies on powered medical equipment, or cannot use the stairs without a lift, read our guide to the Priority Services Register.

When to call an electrician

Call an electrician if:

• the building has power and your flat does not, and your meter is working
• a switch in your consumer unit keeps tripping
• you smell burning near your consumer unit or meter cupboard
• water has come through from the flat above into a light fitting or socket

Our Hackney area page has more on the housing there and the faults it tends to produce. In any block, start with your own consumer unit, then look at the hallway, then call 105 if the whole building is out.